Sports Injuries - Sundial Clinics

Although minor sports injuries are a common occurrence in professional sports and most teams have a staff of athletic trainers and close connections to the medical community, you might not have had access to the same level of care – until now.

If you pull a muscle or other niggling injury, it can hamper your efforts to enjoy your sport and stay fit. You may have ignored the pain and carried on with your sport for too long without treatment, and now find yourself with a chronic injury.

We treat sports injuries with an effective step-by-step programme to rebuild strong and healthy muscles and joints so you can lead an active and fulfilling life free from pain and performing at your best.

Our award-winning team works hard to understand your problem and deliver effective treatment to solve your neck pain.

Solve your sports injuries with three simple steps…

Consultation

At your free consultation we listen to you and examine you thoroughly to ensure that we fully understand your problem.

Diagnosis

We explain what is wrong and the root cause behind it. We set out a treatment plan unique to your specific needs.

Treatment

By following the treatment plan, your pain will be relieved and your problem addressed quickly and effectively.

Common sports injuries

We often see people with these sorts of problems:

Hamstring strains
Calf strains
Achilles tendon injuries
Knee pain (Runners Knee)
Groin and thigh sprains
Lower back pain
Tennis elbow
Shoulder sprains (rotator cuff injuries)
Tendonitis or tendinopathy

Our physio, James Masterson, has worked with professional football teams, local rugby teams and marathon runners and one of our chiropractors, Matthew Bennett, worked with Brighton and Hove Albion and the British Alpine Ski Team.

What are sports injuries?

In many cases, these types of minor sports injuries are due to overuse of a part of the body when participating in a certain activity. For example, runner’s knee is a painful condition generally associated with running, while tennis elbow is a form of repetitive stress injury at the elbow (although it does not often occur with tennis players). Other types of injuries can be caused by hard contact with something. This can often cause a broken bone or torn ligament or tendon. These more serious problems may need a referral to a medical doctor or even A & E although physiotherapy can help with rehabilitation to full function.

Sports injuries can be broadly classified as either traumatic or overuse injuries. Traumatic injuries account for most injuries in contact sports such as football or rugby because of the dynamic and high collision nature of these sports. These injuries range from bruises and muscle strains to fractures and head injuries.

A bruise or contusion is damage to small blood vessels which causes bleeding within the tissues. A muscle strain is a small tear of muscle fibres and a ligament sprain is a small tear of ligament tissue. The body’s response to these sports injuries is the same in the initial five day period immediately following the traumatic incident – inflammation.

Signs and symptoms of sports injuries

Inflammation is characterised by pain, localised swelling, heat, redness and a loss of function. All of these traumatic injuries cause damage to the cells that make up the soft tissues. The dead and damaged cells release chemicals, which initiate an inflammatory response. Small blood vessels are damaged and opened up, producing bleeding within the tissue. In the body’s normal reaction, a small blood clot is formed in order to stop this bleeding and from this clot, special cells (called fibroblasts) begin the healing process by laying down scar tissue.

The inflammatory stage is the first phase of healing. However, too much of an inflammatory response in the early stage can mean that the healing process takes longer and a return to activity is delayed. The sports injury treatments are intended to minimise the inflammatory phase of an injury so that the overall healing process is accelerated.

Sports injury treatment and prevention

The inflammatory stage typically lasts around 5 days and all treatment during this time is designed to address the cardinal signs of inflammation – pain, swelling, redness, heat and a loss of function. This might include RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation), special exercises, laser therapy, ultrasound or even acupuncture.

A comprehensive warm-up programme has been found to decrease injuries. Compression sportswear is becoming very popular with both professional and amateur athletes. These garments are thought to both reduce the risk of muscle injury and speed up muscle recovery. A full assessment by one of our experts may show problems which, if treated properly, will not go on to cause injury. We will also advise on the sort of exercises and stretches which will help too.

Get started today with a free consultation…

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What makes Sundial special?

We understand how frustrating a bad neck can be and the anxiety it causes in doing even simple things. Nobody should have to put up with ineffective treatment or put their life on hold because of a sports injury. We have treated nearly 30,000 patients over 30 years. When asked, 94% say they are satisfied or very satisfied.

Our excellent results are due to the fact that we are the only clinics in Sussex to have chiropractors and physiotherapists working together to deliver the best care. This team approach is more effective at finding the cause of sports injuries and treating them effectively.

If you are fed up with pain and worried about being inactive, unfit and struggling to concentrate at work then book a free consultation now.

Minor sports injuries